Commissioner On Aging Fired By Governor

Agency Head For Aging Dismissed By Governor

December 04, 1992|By MARK PAZNIOKAS; Courant Staff Writer

Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. has fired Edith G. Prague, the commissioner of the Department on Aging who has repeatedly defied him by opposing budget cuts and a sweeping reorganization that affects her agency.

Prague will serve until Jan. 7, when she will be succeeded by A. Cynthia Matthews of Wethersfield, whose term as state senator expires a day earlier, Weicker announced Thursday in a written statement.

Many at the Capitol had long expected that 67-year-old Prague, whose highly independent and outspoken nature charmed her friends and infuriated others, would be the first commissioner to leave the Weicker administration.

At 4:30 p.m., Weicker released a written statement confirming that those expectations were well-founded.

The statement announced Matthews' appointment and was vague about the circumstances surrounding Prague's departure, but a Weicker spokeswoman and Prague later said the commissioner had been fired.

Prague, a former state representative from Columbia, said the governor requested her resignation Monday and she refused, telling him she would not step down voluntarily.

"It was very professional. There was no yelling or screaming. It was a statement of fact, a give and take," she said. "He stated his position. I stated my position."

Wednesday, Weicker told her in writing: "This is to advise you formally that your tenure as commissioner on aging will end on January 7, 1993."

Avice A. Meehan, the governor's press secretary, would not describe Weicker's differences with Prague, who had supported his independent candidacy for governor in 1990 and was an early appointment in his administration.

"The governor has a high opinion of Edith Prague, but he felt that a change was in order," Meehan said.

But members of the administration and Prague herself have said

Weicker was angry that Prague continued to lobby against the adminis991, and she complimented him on his choice of Matthews as her successor.

"I like her and I respect her. I am comfortable with her replacing me," said Prague, who has already spoken to Matthews and promised to assist in assuring a smooth transition.

Matthews, 68, who did not seek re-election to a fifth two-year term in the Senate, said Weicker called her to his office two weeks ago and offered her the job, which pays about $68,000 a year.

The reorganization that eventually will eliminate aging as a separate department -- and Matthews' job as commissioner -- could take another two years to implement fully.

Matthews said she supports and will work for the reorganization.

"What we're trying to do is provide a one-stop effort for services," she said. "People will know where things are. It's clear they all belong under social services."